Treatment- Cinematography

Maya's entry

I am cinematographer for the group, so will be responsible for directing the positioning of the video camera for each shot that we film, in order to achieve the appropriate effect for our video whilst ensuring we adhere to the various codes and conventions of filmmaking.

However, as we are aiming our promotional package for this video to be towards young people who enjoy alternative music out of the mainstream, I would like to incorporate experimental cinematography into the video and challenge some of the codes and conventions and perhaps break a few of the guidelines! I am hoping to include several "unplanned" shots in each of the locations, that when we are filming on set we can experiment with different angles and shot sizes with the camera in unusual places, to create a really edgy and interesting music video that pushes the boundaries of what shots you normally see in your average music video (mid shots of the artist etc).

As our artist Lawrence King is not featuring in our music video, we do not need to worry about including lots of close ups and shots of the artist in our video. Instead, we have a storyline of two characters meeting by chance throughout the day, culminating in them meeting at a bar later that day. The main point we need to convey to the audience is that these two women are attracted to each other.
To do this, I plan to use multiple close up shot-reverse-shots in the bar scenes to show their reactions when they first meet and talk in the bar and the fact that the close ups with show they are giving each other alot of eye contact will suggest that they are indeed attracted to each other.

As well as shots of our actors, I want to include lots of wide shots of our locations such as the college, the beach by the river, and the bar to show the environments the actors are in. We are lucky to have found a beach to film on with such pretty scenery so we need to make sure we show it off it its full advantage with wide panning shots! I also want to try to capture some birds flying over the rivers water using a panning long shot. We will film a low angle wide shot of the college entrance as the girls enter the building (at separate times). This will show that the college is a big place full of people and that there’s only a small chance they would meet each other unintentionally in such a big building, and that they are a “small fish in the sea” if you get what I mean!. When Jessica is walking her dog on the beach, we will use a panning wide shot from left to right shot, which will enable the viewer to see both Jessica, the dog, and the scenery they are in.

There is a scene that we are going to have where one girl is waiting at the traffic lights outside of the college waiting for light at the pedestrian crossing to go from red to green. For this I want to position the camera so we have a lot of depth in the frame – the “green man” on the traffic light in the foreground, and the college in the background with the marina with its many boats in the distance, all whilst there are pedestrians walking past and cars driving past in the frame. This will create a much more interesting shot than just filming a close up of the traffic light itself turning from red to green.

The bar scene is where I really want to try some unconventional shots, as well as dutch tilts perhaps to make a somewhat boring shot of a girl walking into the bar a little more interesting for the audience to watch. I know in the bar we are filming in there are metal chairs with thin slats all over them, I was thinking perhaps we could place the camera behind one of them and film, perhaps creating a voyeuristic effect, or maybe film through the translucent windows of the bar so it will be like the audience are drawn into these character’s worlds.

We are also hoping to include some time lapse of one of the girls driving along the road (with the camera rested on the dashboard so it will look like the drivers point of view as they are driving along the road), which will create the sense of a passage of time which, under normal circumstances, would take too long or would be extremely boring to watch in ‘real time’. 10 minutes of footage should be enough, and then in the editing room we will speed up the footage so it will only be a few seconds long. We could also like to incorporate a point of view shot from the front seat of the car while the car is driving but obviously this poses problems as to how we film this whilst driving the car! As a little touch showing attention to detail, I also want to include a big-close-up shot one of the girls holding a iPod (that’s playing a Lawrence King track), and also near the end when we see them saving each others numbers into their mobile phones, to show to the audience that they will hopefully be seeing each other again and that this is not the end.

As I learnt last year in our AS Project, I must remember to obey the Rule of thirds. You imagine breaking your image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have nine parts. The theory is that if you place points of interest along the lines then the image becomes more balanced and enables the audience can interact with it more naturally.

I must continue remember the basic guidelines such as the 180 degree line rule. The 180° rule states that two characters (in the same scene) should always have the same left/right relationship to each other, and that the camera should not cross the imaginary axis connecting the two characters. I watched this video on YouTube to refresh my memory of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdyyuqmCW14

Also, I need to make sure I obey the 30° rule. This is a basic film editing guideline that says the camera needs to move at least 30° between shots of the same subject. This makes the shots different enough to avoid a jump cut, however too much movement around the subject may violate the 180° rule.

Treatment: Mood Board

Nicola's entry

As Art Director i have created a mood board which shows what i want the pop promo to include in a visual format.

Treatment- MES

Nicola's entry

Costumes/Make up

For Jessica's character I want her to be wearing a bright coat when moving around in the everyday scenes, this will make her stand out against the general public. In the everyday scenes I want Jessica to be wearing natural make up to show off natural beauty. In the bar scenes i want Jessica's character to be wearing a black dress that it tight fitting to show her femininity, I want her to accessorise this dress with a brightly coloured belt to carried on the theme from the other scenes. In the bar scenes i want Jessica's make up to be a bit more apparent with her wearing more mascara to emphasize her eyes. During the bedrooms scenes i want Jessica's character to be wearing Pajamas to show she is at home and in a relaxed environment, during all of Jessica's scenes i want her hair to be straight and blonde as this will contrast with Nicola's characters hair.

For Nicola's character i want her to be wearing a black coat and a brightly coloured scarf during the everyday scenes again the brightly coloured scarf will make her stand out. For the bar scene i was Nicola's character to be wearing more colour than usual, to do this i will dress her in a brightly coloured skirt and team this with a black top and a bright red belt, the use of colours will help her to seem confident.

For the bedroom scene i want Nicola's character to be in Pj's this will make her look comfortable i also want her to wrapped in a duvet this will give the impression that she is about to go to bed. I want Nicola's character to have curly brown hair this will contrast with Jessica's character and help the audience to distinguish between them.

Lighting

The everyday scenes are set outdoors and will be naturally lit as i don't want the promo to look too stylized whereas the bedroom scenes will be dimly lit with the focus of the light on the character to help them be the focus of the scene rather than their surroundings. During the make up scenes the focus of the light will be on the characters face as this is what we want the audience to look at.

Locations

We have a few different locations in our piece, we have the waterfront university building, the two bedrooms and the bar. I chose the waterfront building as it looks modern and artsy and i felt this would go with the tone and feel of our music, i also chose it because of the amount of traffic needed for the time lapse element of our promo. The bedrooms are dressed are differently as i wanted the two characters to have different personalities and tastes, Jessica's character has a printed wallpaper and a large bed with a candle lamp giving a hippy/oriental theme to the room whereas Nicola's character has a simple room. The bar is chose for the decor, it is bright and uses bold colours which i felt matched the tome of the promo. it looks modern and niche which i think would appeal to the audience of our music as they would most likely hang out in bars rather than clubs.

Props

For the props we need to mobile phones i decided to use smart-phones such as the blackberry phone in our promo to show modern technology.

Performance

The characters in our promo will be tackling the subject of homosexuality and in their performance they need to be flirty and attracted to each other without glamorizing lesbianism and making it look over the top. During the bar scene where the characters meet for the first time i want them to flirt with each other but smiling and touching each others arms or hair, then when Jessica's characters says goodbye and the characters kiss, i have decided that they will kiss on the cheek as a fully passionate kiss would be inappropriate and distract from the message we are trying to put across

Treatment- Editing

For the beginning of the music video we have decided on 2 possible ways of editing the opening sequence. Our second editing option requires us to shoot no extra footage or make any changes to the narrative so we have decided we will try both ways in post production, to see which looks best.

1. The opening sequence will feature Nicola and Jess both checking their phones, anticipating a call that doesn't arrive. I will then reverse footage of a clock, showing the viewer we are going back in time to the previous morning.

or

2. Instead of reversing the clock to show passed time, we will reverse the whole music video, condensing it down to approximately 20 seconds to show the viewer we are going back to the beginning of that day, to show why both girls are waiting in bed for a phone call.

.....

Images of Nicola and Jess entering the college, followed by jump cut to shots of the college atrium. I will edit these in fast motion, again to show passing of time through the college day. Possibly fade different angles of the college atrium together. Cut to Jess and Nicola bored in class, with match cuts between the two to show the similarity of their situations.

Jump cut to Nicola walking to the record store. Whilst flicking through the records we ideally want to get Nicola to do this in time to the music, but I may be required to slow down/ speed up the footage in the editing stage to achieve this. We will see Nicola leave the shop and the camera will concentrate on the traffic. At this stage I will again put the footage into fast motion to show the passing of time. Jump cut to shot of the sea lapping the shore, possibly slow down footage depending on the rate the tide will be coming in. Followed by the shots of Jess etc. Cut to long shot of waves lapping beach again, except something will be written in the sand and footage will be sped up to show it disappearing.

Jump cut to the makeup sequence with graphic match between Nicola and Jess putting on their mascara. Nicola and Jess will then leave their houses. A close up shot will reveal Jess's eyes in her rear view mirror driving. Possible fast motion of traffic flying by again. Cut to an establishing shot of Ollies bar to reveal to the viewer where the 2 girls are going. Footage of people dancing in the club will possibly be fast motioned.

The meeting sequence will feature shot-reverse-shot to show the conversation flowing between Nicola and Jess. This will be followed by quick cuts to big close-ups of eyes and lips, to create a feeling of tension between the two. A slightly slow motion shot of their hands touching will then feature. Followed by match cuts of both saving there numbers into each other phones. As Jess leaves the building the image will slowly be faded out in time with the music.

Once the music has stopped, we will resume the narrative from the very beginning of the music video, showing both girls in bed waiting for a phone call, looking board. Jump cut to Nicola's phone ringing, emphasising the surprise. Finish with close up of Nicola saying 'Hey'. Fade to black.

Treatment: Storyboard

Maya's entry

Below is the storyboard for our pop promo, please excuse the fact the drawings get the worse as it goes on!

Narrative Synopsis

We have chose to use a narrative structure for our pop promo. The concept will be based around movement of time and crossing paths. It will feature Girl A and Girl B, who will cross paths throughout the day and perform activities in parallel to each other. A night time a sequence will then show them meeting at a bar and sparking up a relationship.

The following synopsis is the chronological order of events.

• Both girls walking to college but on different routes
• Both girls will cross the same road/traffic lights on there journey
• Both girls walking back home
• Both girls getting ready, putting on make up etc ready for a night out.
• Both girl on there way to the city centre. Girl A walking and Girl B driving.
• Girl A sat down drinking in a bar
• Girl B approaches Girl A and ask if she can sit with her.
• The girls get chatting and have a laugh and a flirt.
• Girl B has to leave but asks Girl A for her number
• The girls kiss and Girl B leaves
• Both girls shown lying in bed at home hoping for a text from the other girl.
• A smiling Girl B eventually receives a text form Girl B
• Both girls go to sleep happy.

However, we are going to rearrange the chronological order of events to make the narrative more interesting. The stage shown in BLUE will actually be the beginning of the music video, to create tension between what is happening between these two girls. The end of the music video will therefore anaphorically reference the beginning and create a 'full circle' as such.

Production Meeting 4

Since the last meeting we have developed our narrative and concept for the pop promo further. Unfortunately we have a shortage of male actors so the storyline has changes so that the relationship will form between 2 girls. We will go on our first shoot next week... the beach! We wanted to include nature shots and we though that by showing one of the girl on location at the beach in the best way of incorporating this. The other girl will mainly be shot in urban location which we hope to film in Ipswich the week after.

Location finders checklists, Maps and risk assessments will be complete by Jess because as Editor she doesn't have too much to do at the moment. We need to gain permission to shoot in a bar and record shop, but the rest of the locations are public. Maya is busy drawing rough storyboards and completing shot lists. Nicola has also drawn up a rough art treatment for the pop promo, and busy deciding characters costumes etc.

Research Questionnaire

Age- Average age of participants was 19, but ranged from 16-26

It was important for us to gain the views from our target audience who we typically identified as 18-25, although we were limited by the people available to fill in the questionnaire.

Sex- M- 45% F- 55%

We don't believe there is any gender preference to the electronic music genre so we aimed to get equal views from both boys and girls.

1. How many music videos do you watch a week?

0- 5%

0- 5 - 10%

1-5 - 10%

5-10 - 10%

10-15 - 15%

15- 20 - 20%

20+ -30%

Many commented that although they may watch up to 50+ music videos a week it is done in an unconscious manner- i.e putting music stations on the TV to listen to the music, but they do not become absorbed in the video.

2. How important is it for a song to have an accompanying video?

Won’t listen without a video- 10%

Fairly important- 60%

Not bothered either way- 25%

Don’t watch music videos- 5%

The results tell us that the majority like to see music videos, and interestingly it is actually vital to some. Electronic artists often don't have music videos and we believe this is a disadvantage and they may loose a proportion of a potential audience albeit quite small. An intriguing music video is a good way to get someone listening to your music if they have never heard it before.

3. Do you enjoy music without lyrics?

Yes- 20%

No- 50%

Exceptionally - 30%

We asked this question as we needed to gauge how responsive are audience would be to Lawrence King's music. Unfortunately half of the people we interviewed do not listen to lyricless music but we hope this could change once they had been introduced to different types of music, and a music video maybe a good way of doing this.

4. Do you ever listen to Electronic or Chillout music?

Yes- 15%

No- 45%

Sometimes- 40%

45% of the people we interviewed do not listen to electronic music whether this be because of personal tastes or access to different type of genres. The electronic genre is not widely played or promoted on TV or radio so the results are not surprising. However many seem to like it occasionally and the medium of music video may help promote this further.

5. Do you think it’s important to see the artist in the music video?

Yes- 65%

No- 35%

It is useful to point out that mostly girls answered Yes, and when we asked why it was often because they like to gain fashion ideas from pop role models. Many participants also commented that if they were listening to music with out lyrics like dance music or d'n'b they often do not care about seeing the artists. The opposite is true with bands and pop stars. Our group therefore believe that it is not a necessity for Lawrence to be in the music video unless it would benefit our final piece.

6. Do you like to see a narrative (i.e story) in the music video?

Yes- 75%

No- 25%

From these result it is obvious that the larger majority like to have something to follow within a music video and we will definitely incorporate a narrative within our music video.

Editing Techniques Practice

Our group know that we wish to time lapse some of our footage during the editing stage. To discover how much footage compresses down to the the final product once the speed has been increased we did a practice shot. We decided Nicola would sit perfectly still in the middle of the college atrium whilst people move around her for 20 minutes.

I captured the footage in Final Cut Pro and put it into the timeline. I then used the speed option to essentially put the footage on fast forward. At first I tried 500% and 1000% but this did not make a significant impact on the movement around her. In the end, we set it at 9000% speed which is the video you can see above. This is the most suitable speed setting for this footage as the atrium wasn't that busy. 20 minutes compressed down 7 seconds worth of footage

Through doing this preliminary editing exercise I have got to grips with how to use Final Cut Pro and we have an idea of the length of footage we will need, and how much that will compress down to, to create time lapse sequences. Due to the location being different as well- the cars will be moving at a faster pace than the students in the atrium-I imagine 9000% will be too fast, I will use 2000-4000% region as we will want to keep it in pace to the music.

Production Meeting 3

Today we brought together all our individual ideas and discussed them. All our ideas are quite similar in some respects so it wasn't that hard to all agree on a final idea. We want our narrative to center around a boy and a girl who cross paths throughout the day but never notice each other. Near the end of the music video they will finally meet and form a relationship. However, we are still keen to include nature shots to reflect the inspirations Lawrence King has within his music. Over the next few week we will pin down locations and characters, and then begin our treatments.

Individual Idea for Pop Promo

Although we all have individual ideas within our group many of them are similar due to us basing them around the same key concepts. My idea for the narrative and concept are as follows...

• Video set in one 24hr period from dusk till dawn following one person (Character A). This reflects the journey within the track itself.
• All clips to have there speed settings changed, predominately put into fast motion with some put into slow motion. This will help to cover the period of a day within one song.
• As Character A travels through different environments there will be....
• A series of shots on nature, flowers opening, birds taking flight etc when they are in the country
• And urban shots when Character A is in the city.
• Nothing significant to happen over the course of the day, just showing the beauty/art in every day life.

My initial ideas for treatment on my concept are as follows...

• A big focus on colour in regards to MES. Character A brightly dresses, traffic lights, bright flowers, bold signs in the city etc.
• POV shots from Character A walking will stop the music video from looking too polished and still give it an underground feel.
• Extreme Close-ups in the nature scenes to show the detail and beauty in certain flowers/ creatures.
• All Close-ups must be well lit with natural light plus a strong key light to ensure the camera catches precise detail, with shadows kept to a minimum.
• Longer, wider shots for the urban environment to take advantage of the mass of people and busy streets.
• As explained previously in the editing stages I will slow certain clips down or speed them up as appropriate to the speed of the music at that point
• Many shots may benefit from having colour saturated to emphasise particular focal points.

Band Research: Boards of Canada Album Covers

Maya's entry

Here are two examples of album covers for Boards Of Canada.

This one is for the album Geogaddi released in 2002. It is of what appears to be silhouettes of people standing with their arms and legs outstretched , amongst some trees, around a star or planet. It is almost as if it is simply a tie-die pattern, and then on closer inspection you realise its actually humans and objects.The red and orange tones give a warm and friendly feel to the cover. It has a symmetrical look to it, and a psychedelic feel. This goes very well with the fact that the music is of the electronic/ambient/psychedelic genre. Personally I think the font size that has been used for the title of the album and the band name is too small, and when we make our own album cover we need to carefully consider the size of the font we use so that it is easy for everyone to read.



This one is for the album The Campfire Headphase released in 2005. It is a photograph of a man, but we cannot see his identity as the image has a green and blue smokey/liquid like overlay. It is almost as if water has been poured onto the photograph, making it damaged but giving a nice affect. I really like this cover and it has given me some good ideas on what I could make my album cover like. As our artist is fairly anonymous, we could have a photo of him (or someone similar as it wouldn't really matter) then overlay it with something such as an effect or colour, to give the impression that our artist is rather mysterious and unknown as you cannot see his identity.

Interesting typography has been used for the words "Boards Of Canada" with all the letter A's being changed, and we could experiment with fonts when making our album cover to give a unique and interesting feel to it and make it stand out from the crowd.

Print Adverts (Posters)



Here is a print advert for the album The Campfire Headphase. It is heavily based on album's cover - the same photo, typeface, look and feel. This increases continuity, strengthens the albums brand identity, and helps the audience to recognise that this advertises the album, so when they go into a record shop looking for it they will know what it looks like. I am going to do similar with my music album promotional package, and make the album cover and magazine advert very similar in style, as it works really well in strengthening the artist's and the albums identity. As the photo of the poster is quite bad quality, I can't see what is written in the smallprint underneath the title, but I presume it is the albums release date, and perhaps a link to their website, which is really crucial to put on a print advert so people know where to find more information on the album or artist.

Band Research: Boards of Canada Music Videos

This is the music video for Boards of Canada's song "Dayvan Cowboy", taken from the album "The Campfire Headphase". It was directed by Melissa Olson and has been watched over 820,000 times on YouTube. The video consists of footage from Joe Kittinger's famous parachute jump from 19.5 miles (31.4 km) altitude. Later on in the video, slow-motion footage of big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton is used. It is quite simple, no complicated narrative, just watching an amazing spectacle of someone jumping from plane and the view they had and imagining the adrenaline rush that he must of felt, and I think it works really well with the uplifting feel of this song. It "matches" the album cover and their overall marketing campaign, with a strong nature and artistic theme, and I think the music video has a very broad appeal in terms of who will watch it.

This is the only official music video Boards of Canada has (the rest on Youtube are fanmade). Some artists in this genre of music choose to simply not have pop promos and just have their songs. We hope to show that having a music video can be a great addition to your song, and can really help to create a promotional package that can help to promote the band/artist.

Band Research: Boards of Canada Introduction

As the artist of our chosen song to make a pop promo for is not well known and hasn't had any previous marketing campaigns or pop promos made, I have been researching artists that make similar music and have had previous marketing campaigns and pop promos. Nicole has been researching Zero 7, and Jessica has been researching Star of the Lid and Four Tet. I have been researching Boards Of Canada, a Scottish electronic music duo.

Genres: Electronic, Downtempo, Ambient, Experimental, Psychedelic, IDM (intelligent dance music)

Years active: 1986 - present
www.boardsofcanada.com

Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin. They are signed to Warp Records and have released several works on that label with little advertising and few interviews, while also having an obscure and elusive back-catalogue of releases on their self-run label Music70.

Their music is reminiscent of the artificial, warm and scratchy sounds of 1970s media and prominent themes include nostalgia, childhood and the natural world. They are said to take the documentary films made by the National Film Board of Canada (Canada's public film producer and distributor), from which their group name is derived, as a source of inspiration.

Major releases:

• 1998: Music Has the Right to Children – (Warp/Skam) #193 UK
• 2000: In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country – (Warp/Music70)
• 2002: Geogaddi – (Warp/Music70) #21 UK
• 2005: The Campfire Headphase – (Warp) #41 UK
• 2006: Trans Canada Highway (Warp)

Audience:
I think that the target audience for Boards of Canada's music will be fairly young people aged 18-30 (although there's nothing to say older people wouldn't like it), either male or female, and the key feature that defines their audience is people's music tastes - whether they have an open mind when it comes to what music they listen to and would enjoy non-mainstream music, and that will enjoy experimental and electronic music.

Band Research: Zero 7

Nicola's entry

I have chosen to research in to bands that are similar to the kind of music that Lawrence makes as he is not an established artist I need to research in to how bands like him promote themselves.

Zero 7 are a Grammy nominated ambient music duo from the UK comprising of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker and they use guest vocalists on their tracks such as Tina Dico, Sophie Barker and Mozez. So far they have had four studio albums since 2001; Simple things (2001) When it Falls (2004) The Garden (2006) and Yeah Ghost (2009) and their music has been TV shows such as CSI, Smallville and Sex in the City and coke-cola

Zero 7 use youtube to promote there music, the have their own youtube channel on which they put their pop promos and they also have a link to their website which is promoting their new album “yeah ghost”. Their music videos are quite abstract for example the video for destiny is done in a cartoon style in black and white with tints of red and orange following a girl going about her day and seeing couple and relationships everywhere and then at the end of the music video the black and white turns to colour when the girl is walking down the street towards a café where someone is waiting for her, i think this video works well with the lyrics are the promo shows how couple/relationships work together and how destiny shapes the world around us, this video is more narrative based as we do not see the band performing which a typical convention for this genre of music. this video uses lots of mid shots and panning shots to show the girls travels and point of view shots showing what the girl sees on her way to meet her friend/partner.

Star Image/Construction

With this genre of music the bands are fairly low key and use the internet to do their advertising or use word of mouth to get there music out and Zero 7 are much the same as they use various artists to do the vocals on their tracks and i think this is they way most artists from this genre like to be, they like to remain anonymous and not gain all the fame and just have their music appreciated just for the fact that they make good music.

Band Research: Four Tet Print Designs

I previously analysed Four Tet's music videos and I will now do the same for his print designs- album cover, posters and adverts.

Above is the latest Four Tet album design There Is Love In You (2010). Interestingly, the front of the album cover doesn't contain the album name or title of the artist. This would not be something I would use on my design as the artist we are designing for is up and coming, and promotion of his name is important. However, the individuality of this design and the rising popularity of Four Tet means that this cover is memorable as a Four Tet album. A black background in punctured by many round circles each with a different image within- a mixture of abstract forms and colour, flowers and nature.



Above is the Magazine advert for Four Tet's 2010 tour. The theme of the album cover has been carried over to the advert and is providing the background image. The Artist name has been included this time probably because some one flicking through a magazine may not know or assume that this is an advert for Four Tet, where as someone buying the album would already know what the album looks like and who the artist is. The Artist name is in a simple, modern, bold text that almost looks like it has been cutout of the background and contrast well so it can be clearly read. The symbols used to communicate who the support acts are add a friendly and fun touch to the advert. The style of text used to list the tour dates is classic and simple, a feeling of sophistication had definitely been created.



This is Four Tet's first ever album DIALOGUE (1999). It contrasts with their latest album as it has and artist title and album name clearly displayed in bold, central text. In regards to colour, The album uses greyscale which gives a feeling of simplicity (much like their first album). The nice effect of condensation behind the text brings an interesting focal point to the design. The black circle in the middle gives the illusion of a classic LP within the case, that is being distorted by the trapped condensation.

Apologies for the small image! Above is a framed version of Four Tet's promotional advertisement for their album Everything Ecstatic (2005). As usual with Four Tet, the images of the advertisement correspond with the album. I particularly like this design for its fun use of bubblegum colours- it shows Four Tet are not afraid of looking too 'girly' and 'sweet'. However by doing this it creates an extremely fun looking advert that is bound to catch peoples attention.

I can conclude from my research into Four Tet's print designs that there is no set style for an electronic artist, the key is to experiment with doing something different and make it interesting in a subtle way or an obvious way. Images of nature feature heavily across their designs as a whole as do fun colours and computer aided designs.

Band Research: Four Tet Music Videos

Four Tet is the stage name for Kieran Hebden, who is a solo experimental, electronic DJ and musician that Lawrence King named as one of his influences. Similarly, The music from Four Tet is also predominately lyricless. Four Tet uses samples from r'n'b and hip hop to Jazz and other electronica mixed with Hebden's guitar tracks. VH1 describes him as "balancing organic and programmed sounds" in his music.


The video for Hands is filmed in soft focus to give the images a distorted feel. The images all fit into the nature theme, with animals, leaves and a jellyfish. The video is understated and concept based, meant as an accompaniment for the music, not a video in its own right. Its evident that the artist wants his music to be the talking point, not the music video.


She Moves She is one of Four Tet's adventures into a more professional artistic music video, directed by Ed Holdsworth. The music video is concept based, beginning with a train leaving a station, with the video shown as a point of view shot for the trains window. The images start unaffected at first, but become introverted, illustrated and mirrored. The colours are often enhanced or turned negative. The footage is show in fast motion, in beat to the music. At the end the images duplicate to the beat of the music until they become nonexistent.

The above video is for the Four Tet track Smile Around Your Face and features actor Mark Heap. The video is one very simple concept- a continuous close up of Mark's face. However, The close up tracks to follow Mark as he goes about his day, almost as if the camera is strapped on the front of his body. Nothing out of the ordinary happens on Mark's day; he leaves his house, gets the bus, take a tumble on the bus and gets a headache, takes his kids to the park and has a bath. However if you look a little deeper into the narrative the video becomes highly emotional. Mark is picking his kids up from another house (presumably an ex wife) and takes them to play at the park but has to take them back again. When alone later in the bath the cinematography suggests he is sad that he cannot be with his children and the time he has with them is precious. This is done by blending the shot of him in the park with his children and the one with him in the bath- making it almost feel like a daydream. After the sequence when Mark falls over of the bus the video is edited in such a way that we are aware that Mark has a headache. The colours are distorted and saturated, and are uneasy to look at.

Primary Research: Lawrence King Questionnaire

To gain further knowledge of Lawrence King and get an insight into his music we emailed him a questionnaire which he politely completed.

Hi Lawrence! Firstly, how would you classify your music into genres?

I tend to describe it as Experimental/ Ambient/ Electronica. However I'm not putting myself into boxes just yet, things may change!

What is the inspiration behind your music?

Mainly nature and the wonderful things it creates... sunsets, bright blue skies the sound of a pebble hitting the water etc. But also the journey of time within nature and the concept of day and night.

What other artists would you consider in a similar genre to yourself?

I like the works of Boards of Canada, Four Tet and Zero 7. We aren't exactly the same but you get the idea.

How come you don't have any music videos?

Music videos are less common in electronic music- we like to concentrate more on the music! However some of the bands I have mentioned before have done music videos and I do believe they can sometimes help do justice to the song. As I'm not a big artist yet, still a student, there wouldn't be much point to making a music video until i gain a bigger fan base after considering costs etc. Unless more student like you want to make them anyway!

What do you enjoy in music videos (any genre)?

Variety is key, some have a great story to them, whilst others you just see the band performing and its still great. I don't believe its necessary to see the artist unless its a band, then its cool to see them all play together. I enjoy some of the more weirder music videos from Aphex Twin as you genuinely want to keep on watching to see what the hells is going on. Its always nice to see things you have never seen before in music videos- new environments and cultures etc.

What would you like to see in the music video we make for you?

That's really up to you, I have nothing set in my mind, hopefully you have got an idea what my music is all about and use inspiration from that. But I'm all for being experimental and doing what no one has done before so go crazy! I wouldn't want it to be generic and copied.

And... Would you like to be in it?

Preferably not, I'm quite keen to remain anonymous as an artist. I want people to concentrate on the music not me. This isn't like pop music where the image of the artist is key to the success. (Lucky for me? lol)

Thanks Lawrence!

Primary Research: Lawrence King Introduction

Our group is in a unique situation compared to our other classmates in regards to our chosen artist; we discovered Lawrence King as he is a friend of Nicola and she had heard his music. Although this gives us an advantage as we can contact him directly for research it also means he is not yet fully established and so we cannot gain inspiration/direction from previous music videos.

A quick introduction to Lawrence King

• Lawrence is 20 years old


• He is currently a student at the University of Hertfordshire


• He studies Music Technology


• His music is predominately in the Electronic genre


• You can listen to his music on his MYSPACE, LASTFM, SOUNDCLOUD


• Many of his inspirations and music collection are listed on his DISCOGS page


• Lawrence networks on his TWITTER page to share ideas and feedback with other artists.

Analysis of a Music Promotion Package

Invaders Must Die, Prodigy

I have chosen The Prodigy to analyse there promotional music package as they are main stream artists within the electronic/ rave genre, quite close to our artist Lawrence King.

The above image is from their newest album Invaders Must Die, released in 2008. The style of text used for the prodigy is very angular and has a lightening effect to it. The style of text used for the album name looks as if it's graffiti, relating to the street audience that it appeals to. The main focus of the album artwork is the retro war aircraft which has a sinister/sci-fi edge to its style. The people gathering around the aircraft tell us that it shouldn't be there and is the 'invader'. The image as a whole is purposely grainy, giving it an aged effect.

The advertisement for the Invader Must Die tour continues the grainy resolution of the album cover and coupled with the use of an old fashioned air raid siren and signal control tower it creates a feeling of nostalgia. The Texts used for artist name and album name are again the same for continuity. The colours primarily used are red, black and orange which give connotations of danger, fire, and doom. the metal tower in the middle helps create a feeling of war, which fits in with the Prodigy's ideolody- us vs. the establishment.

The above music video, is for the title single of the album, Invaders Must Die. The video takes an anti-establishment stance, with the protagonist entering private property- what would appear to be a disused army aircraft/ naval camp. The barren location with disintegrating property and eery army buildings instantly creates a feeling of the 'scary unknown.' A recurring theme within the video is a drawing of an ant, which the protagonist draws at different points around the location as a warning to stay away. This allows for some interesting cinematography to reveal the ants, such as a high angle shot at the very end revealing the drawing on a helipad. The shot of the helipads shows clearly the expanse of space in the location, and is a scenic ending shot. The protagonist is played by an actor but the band appear in several shots that last for a couple of seconds each, for the benefit of fans who can recognise them. Although the video has no clear narrative this adds to the feeling of mystery, and encourage people to watch again to understand further.

Production Meeting 2

Today our task was to finalise our music choice. We had listened to some Lawrence King tracks in the week on Last.fm and the whole group enjoyed the music. Lawrence sent us some tracks that he thought were particularly suitable for a pop promo. We decided on the track - Gravity and Habit- as we felt the change in styles and tempo throughout the song would make for a more interesting pop promo.

Our initial ideas was a nature vs. urban idea, shots of the city and of nature. After speaking to Jon we realise we need to incorporate a stronger narrative in the promo. So for next week we are all going to come up with individual ideas which include a narrative and research what similar artists have done for their music videos.

Our roles within the group have been decided..

Maya Mathias- Cinematographer
Nicola Wright- Art Director
Jessica Hayward- Editor, Producer

Music Video Textual Analysis: Boards of Canada

Dayvan Cowboy



The Boards of Canada music video was created using existing video footage from nature documentaries and sport action shots. As Boards of Canada are a relatively small band and only ever achieved modest success, they never produced many music videos. The music video for Dayvan Cowboy was therefore low-cost and quite simplistic, although it has received over 700,000 views on YouTube as popularity for the video grew.

The music video begins with footage from Joe Kittinger's record-breaking skydive and grainy shots of the world from above the atmosphere. Seeing images on such a grand scale gives the video an epic feeling, and enhance the feeling of the music being outer-worldly. The introduction of more instruments is marked by Kittinger's jump out of the plane reflecting the increase in adrenaline. Video footage from Kittingers harness is used as he descends towards the atmosphere, and as he begins to pass through it this in parallel with a lower tempo in the music. The director, Melissa Olson, has done this to make us feel like we are going on a journey with the skydiver.

As the music takes a break and changes, the images switch to a wide shot of the ocean, with alternating shots of Kittinger falling from his parachute into the ocean. The rest of the video is a series of footage, edited in slow motion, of Laird Hamilton surfing. It can be assumed by the viewer that it is the same man falling from the sky and into the ocean and surfing, a complete journey with nature. The video end with an interesting POV-style shot of the sunset in the ocean which gives the effect that the viewer is sitting there watching it, with water splashing into their eyes.

I believe the video promotes the electronic duo very effectively. The music video ensures the viewers concentration is just as much on the images as the sounds, as the two work together seamlessly. The inspiration for their music as a whole has reportedly been the National Film Board of Canada, which produces nature and sporting documentaries, and this obviously comes through in the film. I believe the audience for this music video is actually very broad- 18-55 as the images are relaxing to watch and of extraordinary sporting feats.

Music Video Textual Analysis: 30 Seconds to Mars

The Kill, 30 Seconds to Mars (2007)

The music video for The Kill, from American rock band 30 Second to Mars, enjoyed widespread popularity and became a YouTube hit. The band was awarded with an MTV2 VMA for best music video for the song.

Intertextuality runs firmly through the video as the narrative is largely based up the film The Shining, Stanley Kubrick (1980). Many scenes are directly sourced from the film, including a man dressed as a bear performing a sexual act and the woman in the shower. This will helps give viewers a sense of familiarity with the music video, even if they have never seen it before, assuming they have seen The Shining albeit.

Cinematography at the start of the music video helps to emphasis the expanse of the hotel with wide and long shots. Imparticular, the tracking shot of the guy on the skateboard helps give a sense of foreboding to the long corridors. Performance scenes of the band often use low angle shots, giving the band a sense of importance and separate them form the narrative within the music video. The lead singer Jared Leto, however, is often shot with high angled shots, making him look more susceptible and weak. In my opinion this helps reflect the nature of the song, of someone being troubled and victimised.

The title 'The Kill' appears at the start of the music video, giving it the feel of a feature film. Scenes are often cut and jumped forward, for example at at 1.15 the Leto progressively makes his way towards the table in jumpy cuts and the same is repeated again later in the corridor. This helps add confusion to what he is doing, what is he trying to find? Towards the end of the film, scenes are edited into a split screen. The use of this editing technique further supports the idea of split personalities, as well as giving the hotel guests an eerie and supernatural feel.

The film is structured mainly as a narrative but with performance scenes throughout. The performance scenes are in itself a genre characteristic of rock music videos. Other features that are typical of the genre are alcohol, women and sex. However, these are not shown to excess in a conventional rock style way, and many scenes like the ballroom are not typical of rock videos at all. Close-up's of the band represent them as more alternative rock, as there make-up and hair is styled quite gothic. This fits in with the image of the band outside of the music video as they don't aim to be mainstream. I believe the intended audience for the music video is the 15-30 age bracket. The older portion of the audience will enjoy the bands exophoric reference to The Shining.

Music Video Textual Analysis: DJ Shadow

The Organ Donor, DJ Shadow (2005, Colin Arnold)

For my next video to analyse I chose The Organ Donor by electronic artist DJ Shadow because it relates more closely to the type of music I will be creating a video for. DJ shadow has enjoyed rave reviews amongst critics but is still quite underground and therefore the video was made on a limited budget.

The Music video is concept based, and draws inspiration from the homonyms that can be pulled from the title. Firstly we have the literal 'Organ Donor' a person who donates organs. The opening of the music video shows a creepy looking undertaker man who works in a church with the dead, removing there organs to be sold or donated. The other meaning of 'Organ Donor' relates to the musical organ and the way in which samples of someone playing the organ have been donated to this new track which DJ Shadow has mixed. There is no narrative as such, but there are performance segments. The performance scenes of the undertaker on the organ and the DJ mixing aren't the actual artist, but look to replicate the way in which the music was made.

The video is made in the visual style of a horror film and can almost be criticised as being guilty of genre characteristics overload. We see iconography of the horror genre such as Churches, crosses, graves, bloodied knifes and dead bodies. The opening of the video uses the diagetic sound of the church bells ringing, smoke machine on a dark street and creaky doors to immediately give us a sense of horror and foreboding. The undertaker begins to play the organ parallel to the music track but as the track begins to scratch and break down at 3.00 we switch to watching a vicar DJ on modern decks. We see a record on the decks which is printed with 'Organ Donor', a reference to the name of the track. Although the video is based on the horror genre it is also intended to be humorous, evident when the undertaker begins dancing at 2.16.

Lighting and cinematography are both used effectively to add to the horror feel of this music video. At 1.16 the up lit strobe lighting on the undertaker's face portrays him as the typical horror film bad man. At 1.58 a key light backlights the undertaker to create a silhouette and mystery to what he is doing. When the vicar is DJing at 3.16 the strobe lighting and the LED lighting give the impression of a nightclub, but also of thunder and lighting depending how the audience reads it. Many portions of the video are edited so that there are series of quick cuts, such as around the 1.00 mark, to give a feeling of uncertainty and pace.

The audience can read this video as having an anti-Christian ideology. The religious imagery throughout, including Christ on the crucifix at 1.40, is not shown in such a manner as to promote the idea of Christianity but to challenge its importance and validity. Some Christians may find the idea of DJing and partying in a Church offensive. The undertaker is shown preparing absinthe by burning the sugar in a spoon, a highly un-christian thing to do in a church.

Production Meeting 1

Today the class were given their brief by Jon, and we discussed what was required of us. Our first task was to organise ourselves into groups for our coursework. Our group consists of Maya Mathias, Jessica Hayward and Nicola Wright. Jon asked us to discuss our options for the music track for our pop promo. Nicola mentioned a friend, Lawrence King, that is doing music production at university, and that it may be possible to use one of his tracks. For next week we will try to contact Lawrence and get some tracks from him.

Star Construction

In our lesson last week our lecturer gave us a brief history of music videos and screened some examples of outstanding music videos. We were also taught the importance of star construction. Here are my findings about star consturction...

With thanks to Maya for typing it up.

There are three areas:

1. Star image is how the star is perceived by the audience and the characteristics ascribed to him or her which may be a combination of a conscious construction by the media industry that they work for, and of extra textual publicity in other media. It can be controlled by the star up to a certain point, but however newspapers or magazines can take advantage of any weaknesses. Music promos play a significant part in the construction of image, by creating an associated iconography (visual features that accompany the stars performance such as costumes or settings).
2. Star vehicle is a product constructed around the image of the star in order to promote them (eg a music video). These can reinforce the stars existing image or try and change the image and create a new one. They showcase their talents, and play a large part in constructing and maintaining their image.
3. Star power takes several forms: Economic power through earnings generated by the sales of an associated product such as cinema tickets or CDs. Artistic power which is creative control of their own image and how it appears in the media. Finally, Ideological power in terms of their influence upon the audience, which may take the form of style (eg fashion) or attitude.

What makes a good pop promo?

In order for us to make a good pop promo package we had to investigate how others have created a successful one. We discussed this in class and looked at examples which are lecturer had told us were particularly good. I found the following were important factors to making a good pop promo-

• Concept- Literally an idea for a video that maybe related to the song or totally unrelated that does not rely on a narrative. Radiohead's 'Street Spirit (Fade Out)' (1996, Jonathan Glazer) contains no narrative but relies solely upon the concept Glazer created. A scientific ultra high speed camera allowed scenes to be captured in extreme slow motion. Using just concept in this music video was effective because it created a solemn, reflective tone that allows the audience to study the lyrics.
• Performance- A performance sequence in a music video is often very important as it gives opportunity to show the band/artist performing their song as they would if you saw them live. In U2's music video for 'Where the Streets Have No Name' (1987, Meiert Avis) the band are shot performing on a Los Angeles rooftop. This was a live performance performed to a crowd unaware the event was taking place. The video is heavily edited to show the band getting in trouble from the police and then continuing to perform. Although in real life the stopped filming when asked to do so, editing the performance in such away created a popular music video and portrayed the group as 'living on the edge'.
• Narrative- Telling a story in a music video is an easy way to gain the audiences attention and top explain the meaning behind an artists lyrics. The song 'Cool' by Gwen Stefani uses a video that sticks close to the lyrics to tell a story (2005, Sophie Muller). The lyrics explain the narrator's relationship with her ex-boyfriend and how she has happily moved on and please to see her ex happy with a new girlfriend. Graphic match cuts compare and contrast the two relationships.
• Mise en scene- MES is important within any music video but will undoubedly vary depending on the concept, narrative or type of performance.
  
• Ideology, message and values- A music video is a good way for an artist to express there belief and values as well as raise controversial issues to put them into the public eye. For example, the video for 'Rabbit in your headlights' by UNKLE (1998, Jonathan Glazer) has created a lot of discussion over the underlying messages that the video contains. One reading is that the video appears to criticise the lack of care and consideration between human beings in the modern world, whilst another reading sees the video as promoting Christianity and the journey of Christ.
• SFX,CGI and animation- Special effects allows music videos to enter a world beyond reality. The video for 'Handlebars' by the Flobots is entirely animated. This gives the advantage of being able to tell the story more quickly than if it was shot in real life.
• Originality of visual style- For an artist to set themselves apart from other competition and attract a larger audience they must go further than the average artist to produce an original music video. The generic music video format of the artist performing with narrative running throughout is often more than adequate but artist who break this mould often earn more awards and success for their videos. Radiohead, Massive Attack, Weezer and Fatboy Slim are particularly noted for the original style captured in many of their videos.
• Intertextuality- The use of intertextuality in a music video is often inspired by films and helps to make a good pop promo as it engages the audience to spot what film is used and creates a feeling of familiarity. The video for Geri Halliwell's song 'Its raining men' (2001) directly uses scene and/or gains inspiration from the films Flashdance (1983) and Fame (1980)
• Similar linking themes- visual styles between music video, and print adverts/websites. Mika uses the same logo and similar visual style (cartoons and doodles) for his name in both CD cover and advertisement

A History of Music Videos

Vitaphone shorts were a creation by Warner Bros in 1926. Image was projected onto the screen while an accompanying audio track was played on a separate record. They were typically 6-12 minutes in length, featured animations, short stories or dancing. Many musical short movies began to spring up from the early 30's, helping to showcase new singing and acting talent for the Hollywood musicals.

In 1964 The Beatles produced A Hard Days Night with director Richard Lester. The mock-documentary featured the Beatles acting and performing, a format they would go onto repeat in the coming years. Similarly, In 1966 The US TV series The Monkees featured the band of the same name, acting and performing various songs as part of the narrative throughout the show. Such ideas started the concept of a music video, the need for music to be on TV with visuals.

The idea of a music video began to progress and TV stations would often air 'video clips' during the 70's. The Australian TV show Countdown used video clips would help promote artists who were to perform on the programme. At the beginning they were often just raw footage of the artist performing and 1/2 minutes in length. As record labels recognised how useful these were as promotional material, directors were appointed to make them more creative, and the format was rolled out around the world.

In the late 1970's the first full length music videos were played on Top of the Pops in the UK, although the amount they were allowed to play was capped to help drive music single sales. Artists such as David Bowie, Queen and Madness enjoyed success from using a music video. In the USA 'Video Concert Hall' was launched in 1978; the first nationwide programme showing music videos, notably before the creation of MTV.

MTV was created in 1981, a 24 hour music video station that undoubtedly sent demand for music videos sky rocketing. The first music video ever aired on MTV was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles in 1981. The title of the track itself is telling in the attitudes many artists had at the time for the creation of music videos. Many feared that true musical talent could not be appreciated in a music video, instead looks would play a crucial role in the appeal of artists.

Madonna was a key player in causing such controversy. The music video for Like a prayer was first shown on MTV in 1989 and immediately caused public outcry due to the risque content. There was a character she made love to, who many assumed was a black Jesus, burning crosses and stigmata- the wounds of Jesus from the Crucifixion. The media criticised her fantastical music video for selling Cd's opposed to raw talent whilst others from the media gave her great praise for daring to cover subject matters none others dared.

Music videos helped to break down racial barriers in the eighties, and provided black music to the mainstream. During the first few years on MTV music videos predominately featured white artists. British band, The Specials, were the first mixed raced band to have a music video played on MTV. MTV received criticism from the public and music labels for failing to play black artists, who supposedly did not fit in with there 'more rock' image. The channel made the decision to put Michael Jackson's video for Billy Jean on regular rotation which helped to pave the way for more black artists promoting their music on MTV. It also significantly increased the popularity of MTV. The 1983 release of the worldwide smash hit Thriller by Michael Jackson, set a new precedent for all music videos and considered the best of all time.

Music videos were available for the mainstream in the 80's and 90's. Quality and style varied from artist-to-artist. It wasn't until the earl 90's that artistic music videos began to emerge, with specialist music video directors such as Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry. Since the turn of the millennium the internet has grown at rapid pace, with YouTube and Myspace providing music videos on demand at the click of a button. This has led to the decline of of music video channels, as viewers can instantly find the video they want on the net. A huge benefit to having music videos on the internet is the opportunity for relatively unknown artists to promote themselves, such as OK, GO. The received a hug amount of publicity for the video Here it Goes Again due to its simple concept. The band are shown performing a dance routine on treadmills and the camera remains static through out and the video is just one complete shot. Although this was obviously low budget, audiences everywhere were amazed at quite how the band manged it without falling over. See a still below.

The Brief

For our A2 media project we will form small groups of 2-3 people to produce a media portfolio. This will consist of a music video and 2 of the following- a cover for the music single, a print advert for the single or a webpage promoting the artist and single. We will also be expected to provide evidence of our planning and research on our blog, and upon completiton, our evaluation of our work. The promotional music package should be appropriate for the artist, be innovative, help to encourage sales and work togeather as a whole to promote the image of the artist.